Ontario natives holding mixed martial arts fights, charges laid

TORONTO -A group of promoters who organized a mixed martial arts event called "Rumble on the Rez" was charged with staging an illegal prize fight, police said Friday, in an apparent bid to stop the popular sport from entering the province.

Six Nations police confirmed they had charged five men with one count each, relating to a fight on the southern Ontario reserve last November. The group held another fight one night in February and a third is planned for Saturday night, under the new name Iroquois Mixed Martial Arts Championships.

Unlike almost every other jurisdiction in the country, the increasingly popular sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) is illegal in Ontario.

Section 83 of the Criminal Code prohibits fighting with fists in contests that haven't been authorized by a legislated board or commission.

A welterweight title fight between Matt Serra and Georges St. Pierre at Montreal's Bell Centre last Saturday drew 21,000 fans and was sold out in minutes.

Well I can tell you that the charges didn't stop the next fight from being held the day after that article was published. I get the impression that the promoters really aren't taking the charges seriously.

in most of the english speaking world, to my knowledge, fighting with or without consent is against the law. any fighting period is.

if you can't fight in the eyes of the law, how do you get better at fighting?

I hope someone gets my point or corrects me there.

English Common Law has provision for what is called a "consensual fight". Charges could still be laid under "disturbing the peace" and/or "creating a nuisance", depending on the specific jurisdiction, and some places may have passed statutes superceding the Common-Law-based consensual-fight precedents. Also, variables would involve numbers, weapons and the view that consent can no longer be assumed if one party has become incapacitated (the direct opposite of the unconsciousness-equals-implied-consent principle as applied to First Aid).

Also frequently the very nature of a court case is to settle a dispute where there's a legal grey area for the purpose of establishing a precedent. This could be the case that decides the precedent, and thusly legalizes MMA in ontario (or god forbid goes the other way).